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Watertown dam could be removed BY LARAINE WESCHLER REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

WATERTOWN -- The shallow pond that abuts Main Street Between Buckingham Street and Davis Street may soon disappear.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has proposed a grant to remove the over 86-year-old dam that holds back Steele Brook to form Pin Shop Pond.

The owners of the Old Pin Shop LLC, which owns the dam, would put $600,000 toward the $1.3 million project, with the state paying the remaining $700,000.

The project would be funded through a 1999 settlement with General Electric to clean up the Housatonic River. The removal of Pin Shop Dam is one of seven projects proposed, totaling $2 million.

According to the grant application, Old Pin Shop LLC has spent $200,000 so far on environmental assessments, wetland mapping, engineering design and permit applications. Construction plans are already complete and all the necessary permits are in the final stages of review by the DEEP.

By removing the 480-foot-long dam and creating a channel for the stream, migratory fish will be able to swim 4.2 miles further upstream to the Heminway Pond Dam. Watertown is also considering a separate project to remove Heminway Pond Dam, which would add another 3.9 miles of stream for fish like shad, alewife, herring, trout, lamprey and eel.

"The Pin Shop Pond on Steele Brook is a small but glaring example of an aquatic habitat in need and worthy of redemption," the grant application states.

According to the grant application, the current spillway is inadequate and overtopping would cause failure of the dam and possible loss of life.

Although the 3.5-acre pond looks large from the road, it is nearly filled with sediment and debris. It was once 6.5 acres, but sediment has reduced the pond to an average depth of 1 foot. If the dam fails, soil contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and metals could spill further into the Housatonic River watershed. As part of the project, 15,000 cubic yards of sediment would be removed.

Invasive species growing on islands would also be removed and replaced with native wetland species.

The Old Pin Shop just south of the pond has been owned by Maurice Fabiani since 1978. Now retired, Fabiani's two daughters and son now manage the cluster of retail stores in the old factory.

The Scovill Company produced pins in the brick building until the 1950s.

It has been plagued with environmental problems ever since.

"Like the Naugatuck River it feeds, Steele Brook is part of the proud history of Connecticut's manufacturing past. Sadly, we now know the damaging ecological consequences early manufacturing has had on Connecticut's land, rivers, and streams," the application from Francis Fabiani reads.

In 1977, cyanide and chlorine spurred a massive fish kill in the pond.

In 1985, Maurice Fabiani was sentenced to 30 days in prison for violating the Clean Air Act after demolishing an old powerhouse before removing asbestos as part of an effort to rehabilitate the old Pin Shop property.

After Maurice Fabiani was sentenced, Watertown negotiated with him to avoid imprisonment by donating land to the town. At the time, the town wanted the pond as a site for a nursing home. However, the plan failed to win court approval, according to Republican-American records.

In 1989, an oil spill coated scores of wild ducks swimming on the pond, according to Republican-American records. Just a few months later, 100 gallons of diesel fuel leaked into the pond.

The state ordered Maurice Fabiani to either repair or remove the dam in 2005. Then in May 2007, then-Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced a lawsuit against owners of The Old Pin Shop LLC, according to Republican-American records.

The Fabianis did not return several phone calls last week.

The project is ready for construction and must be completed in the summer when water flow is low, the application states.

After the dam is removed, the company has agreed to donate part of the pond property to the town for the expansion of Mosgrove Field and a greenway along Steele Brook.

"This locally-motivated project removes an old dam, restores a brook, reclaims land for active and passive recreation, welcomes aquatic life to spawning grounds from which it has been barred, and presents an aesthetic gift to the community," the grant application concludes.

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Dam-Tour wrote on Mar 4, 2013 3:21 PM:

" 1.3 MILLION?!?!?!Give me some Scuba Gear, an underwater drill, a few sticks of TNT, some wire and a detonator and I can get rid of that Dam for a Lot Cheaper!!!

Also, What is the reason for removing the dam in the first place? The pond behind the dam is very shallow. Either it is: A. The soil in the pond is contaminated and needs to be removed; B. The dam is old and crumbling; C. Some friend of Dannel has a Dam Removal company and they need the business! "

" It's an eye sore full of trash and smells all summer long. If the owners are willing to pay half of the total amount I think the state could help out with the other half. Don't forget the state helps out tons of scumbags with free money and food stamps that don't deserve it. "

" In the past, factories were built on rivers and streams for power and to dispose of industrial waste. That is why Waterbury has (had) factories, and Woodbury has antique shops.

The environmental cleanup will be astronomical as this pond is located downstream of former manufacturing sites, including a plating facility. That pond bottom will have to be removed, hauled away, and remediated, down to an unknown level. The cost will likely exceed the 1.3 m estimate.

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